Method and apparatus for sampling material



Deb. s, 1932. H RSTEN 1,990,199

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SAMPLING MATERIAL Filed March 1, 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 6, 1932. THQRSTEN 1,890,199

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SAMPLING MATERIAL Filed March 1.. 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 6, 1932. 17, THORSTEN 1,890,199

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SAMPLING MATERIAL ,Filed March 1. 1926 s Sheet-Sheet M :5

Patented Dec. 6, 1932 UNITED STATES THORLEIF 'rnons'rnn; on PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA- mn'rrron AND APPARATUS FOR; sAMrLI'NG MATERIAL" Application filed March l, 1926, Serial No. 91,643.

This invention relates to the'sampling of materials and particularly to the obtaining of samples from' a continuously moving stream of material.

Various forms of spoon-like devices have heretofore been used for the dippingof samples out of moving streams of material, such for instance, as a continuous moving run of coal on a. conveyor. Such devices as heretofore provided, dip down into the stream of material. The sample thus secured is not fairly representative of the grade of the material carried on the belt, because, dipping in 7 from the top as it does, it fills, withmaterial from the top of the stream and cannot, there fore, take a sample across the entire depth of the stream. In the case of some materials, particularly coal moving on a long conveyor, 77 more or less stratification of the material takesplace, so that the sample thus secured is representative of the upper strata only. Likewise, such samplers dip always in the same part of the stream, and not at various points across the width of the stream.

1 proposed to provide a sampling device which, at every operation, will secure a representative crossv sectionthrough the thickness of the stream of material. I A further important object of the inven tion is to provide a sample taking device which shall automatically remove samples of j the entire depth of material at different points across the width of'the stream.

by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1. represents, in a diagrammaticsampling device and driving mechanism;

Figure 4c is an end view of the element shown in. Fig. 3 showing :the carriage in which one end thereof is supported;

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic viewillustrat- According to the present invention, it is The invention may be readily understood Figure 3 is a detail side elevationof the ing'the' driving mechanism for impartingatriansverse oscillating movement'to the Sam- P i i F'gure 6 is a transverse section through v iihe sampler in the plane of line VI-VI of;

s:- 3; Figure 7 is a detailside elevation of thedriving connection for rotating the sampler}; and

Figure 8 is a view similar'to Fig. 3, showing a counterweight on the sampler.

In the drawings,2 designates the conveyor; supporting roll at the discharge end ofa belt conveyor 3. The material 'A' on the con} veyor is discharged from the upperrun o'f' the conveyor in a stream onto a suitable re ceiving means, such as the chute 4c.

The sampling device'includes a shaft '5in clined across the path. of-travel of the discharged material. The lower'end portion 6' of this shaft is hollow and has an elongated intake orifice 7 in one side thereof intermedi-; ate its ends and in a plane at substantially right angles to the path of the discharged; material. o I

- The upper end of theshaft 5 is rotatablyf carried-ina bearing 8 in a supporting mem ber 8a pivotally mounted 'at '9 in a fixed bracket 10. WVith this arrangementthe shaft 5 may rotate and at the same, time" oscillate transversely across the path of the discharged: material to the-positions shown indotted lines j in Fig. 2. The lower end of the shaft is rotatably guided in a carriage 11 movable along av guideway- 12' under the roller *2'out ofithe path of discharge of the material. if

- The extreme lower end portion ofthe shaft 1 projects through the carriage into the top of areceiving hopper 13 leading to the crush inglunit 14 or receivingmeans. In order to periodically take samples from the falling V stream of material, the shaft is rotated to periodically turnthe intake orifice toward the fallingstream of material 'for' effectingthe rotation of the shaft 5 in therdesired manner, I have provided a driving gear; 15 which may be a suitable motor, or which maybe a standardreducing gear 'as'shown, the reducing gear being operated from 5 a shaft i-l6f=having a sprocket=17 thereon-which is connected through chain 18 with a sprocket 19 on the end of the shaft of the main roller 2. The reducing gear drives a shaft 20 having a crank 21 on one end thereof and a sprocket 22 on its other end. The crank or arm 21 is adapted to cooperate with a similar crank or arm 23 on the end of shaft v e I This form of driving connectionbetween the reducing gear and the shaft 5 provides a flexible driving connection between the shaft and the shaft -5 which will permit of the shaft 5 being oscillated to the difierent positions shown in 'Fig. 2. This drive will also permit the shaft 5 to rotate at a speed greater than the speed of rotationof the shaft 20. This is-of'considerable advan-f tage for the reason hereinafter described. The sprocket'22 drives a chain 24 which in turn. drives a sprocket 25 on a shaft 26. The shaft 26 has asecond sprocket wheel 27 thereon which drives an endless chain 28 pass, ing over the sprocket 27 and around idler sprockets 29 at each side thereof. The chain 28 has a connector 30 thereon carrying a pin 31. Connectedto the pin 31 are flexible ropes or cables 32 extending in opposite directions around similarly arranged-guiding sheaves 33, 34; and 35., One of'the cables connects at 36 with one; side of the carriage 11 and the other cable connects at 37 withthe opposite side of the carriage 11.

When theshaft 20 revolves, the shaft 26- is rotated, rotating the sprocket wheel .27.

This rotation of the sprocket wheel imparts a continuous movement in one direction to the chain 28. 1 As the chain 28 is moved, the,

. member 30 is carried around withfthe chain' thereby travellingin asubstantially reciprocable ,path. Thismovement of the member 30 back and forth in a substantially reciprocable path imparts areciprocatingmovement to the ropes 32 causing the carriage 11 to be pulled along its guideway 12 first in one directionand then in the other. In this man ner the shaft 5 with its sampling means is caused tocontinuously reciprocate or oscillate across the path of the falling material, the shaft moving to the limits shown in dotted lines in Fig.2.

;- Atv the same time that the shaft is being oscillated in this manner it is being continu: ously rotated at the desired speed by the driving element 21. The driving element 21 serves to rotate the shaft to bring the opening 7 to the position whereit will receive the material being discharged from the conveyor.

As'soonas the shaft has been rotated to this position, the stream of falling material will strike the plate? a arranged on the portion of I the shaft .6, adjacent the receivingorifice7 tending to rotate the shaft. Because of the driving arrangementgp'rovided by the coopcrating members 2land 23, the shaft willbe rotated in this manner very rapidlyto a'position" where the orifice, will be turned away;

from the falling stream of material. In this way the orifice will be turned toward the falling stream of material for only an instant and during this time its entire length will be exposed to the falling stream. Consequently the sample collected will represent a section through the entire depth of the material in the stream and thereby give a fairly characteristic sample of all of the material on the conveyor. Since the shaft 5 is being continuously-oscillated, successive samples will be taken at. different points in the width of the stream so that the sampleswhich' are taken will be fairly representative of the entire body of material moving along the conveyor.

1 In the construction shown in Fig. 8,.the operation'of' the'device is generally similar and similar reference numerals have been used to designate the corresponding parts in the construction. herein shown. However, the plate 7 a is omitted and an arm 7 b is substituted, therefor. This arm 7 79 carries a counterweight at its end. .The. counterweight'is so-located with respect to the receiving orifice 7 that when the receiving orifice 7 is exposedto the material'being discharged from the conveyor, the counterweight Will have a tendency'to rotate the shaft very rapidly to quickly move the orifice 7 out of material receiving position. Furthermore, I have here shown the orifice in a cylindrical body portion without side flanges thereabout.

The samples which fall into the orifice 7 travel down' the hollow portion of theshaft' 6 and are discharged into the receiving hopper 13fof the crushing unit 14:.

V The advantage of this arrangement residesin the fact thata method isprovided for obtaining fairly representative samples at the different points in the width of the entire stream of material and whichsamples also contain material from the top to the bottom throughout the complete depth of the'streamf ,W'hileI have illustrated and described a1 specific embodiment of my invention it will be obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in the construction'and operation thereof within the spirit of the in vention and within the scope of my. broader claims. I

1. A method of sampling a traveling stream of material which comprises causing the stream of material to fallan dremoving a section atone point in the width of the stream'through the full dimension'substantially normal to butlessthan the width 'of the falling stream and at regularly recurring intervals.

1 j" 2::A' lmeth'odiiof sampling a" traveling stream of'material which comprises causing the stream to fall from a carrier through space and intermittently removing a section at a point in the width of the stream through the full dimension of the stream substantially normal to but less than the width of said stream and at regularly recurring intervals.

3 A method of sampling a traveling stream of material which comprises causing the stream to fall through space from a carrier, and periodically removing a section through the full dimension substantially normal to but less than the Width of the falling stream, successive samples being taken at various points across its width, the sections removed being of substantially equal volume.

4. A method of taking successive samples from a traveling stream of materialwhich comprises causing the stream of material to fall, and intermittently exposing the receiving orifice of a sampling device to the full dimension of the falling stream substantially normal to but less than the width of said stream for short periods of time.

5. A method of taking successive samples from a traveling stream of material which comprises causing the stream tofall through space and intermittently exposing the receiving orifice of a sampling device to the full dimension of the falling stream substantially normal to but less than the width of the falling stream for short periods of time and at differentpoints across the width of the stream.

6. A method of sampling material carried along on a conveyor Which consists in intermittently removing a section through the full dimension of the material normal to but less than the width of the falling stream and adjacent the point of discharge of the conveyor in the discharge stream thereof before the stratification of the stream has been disturbed.

7. A sampling means including a conveyor having a delivery terminal, and a revolvable and transversely movable sample selecting element adjacent to the delivery terminal of the conveyor and in the path of the discharge of the material therefrom, means for revolving the sample selecting element in the said path of discharge, and means for effecting transverse movement thereof.

8. A sampling means including a conveyor having a delivery terminal. a hollow sample selecting element adjacent the delivery terminal of the conveyor and inclined across the path of discharge of the material therefrom, said sample selecting means having a receiving orifice therein, and means for rotating the sample selecting element to intermittently turn the receiving orifice toward the path of discharge of material from the conveyor, and means for moving the sample selecting element transversely across the path of the dis charge of material.

9. A sampling means including a conveyor having a delivery terminal, a hollow sample selecting element adjacent the delivery terminal of the conveyor and inclined across the path of discharge of the material therefrom, said sample selecting means having a receiving orif ce therein, means for rotating the sample selecting element to intermittently turn the receiving orifice toward the path of discharge of material from the conveyor, and means fer continuously moving the sample selecting element transversely back and forth across the path of the dischargeof material from the conveyor.

10. A sampling'means including a conveyor having a delivery terminal, a hollow rotatable sample selecting element adjacent the delivery terminal of the conveyor and with its axis of rotation inclined across the path of discharge of the material therefrom said sample selecting means having a receiving orifice therein, means for rotating the sample selecting element to intermittently turn the receiving orifice toward-the path of discharge of material from the conveyor, and means for oscillating the sample selecting element transversely of the path of discharge of material from the conveyor.

11. A sample selecting mechanism for use with conveyors including a rotatable shaft having a sample receiving passage therein, said shaft having a receiving orifice in the surface thereof opening into the sample receiving passage, means for rotating the shaft,

and a driving connection between the shaft rotating means and the shaft, said driving connection permitting the rotation of the shaft at a greater speed than the rotation of the driving means through a portion. only of its revolution.

12. A sample selecting mechanism for use with conveyors including a rotatable sample selecting device having a receiving orifice therein, means for rotating the device, and means on the device for effecting its motion independent of the driving means during a portion of its rotation.

18. The combination with a conveyor having a discharge terminal, of a sample selecting mechanism in the path of discharge of the conveyor, said mechanism including a rotatable sampling device having a receiving orifice therein adapted to be intermittently exposed to the stream of material discharging from the conveyor by the rotation ofvthe shaft, means for rotating the sampling clevice, and means on thesampling device for effecting its partial rotationindependently of the driving means and at a speedgreater than the speed of the rotation imparted t ereto by the driving means. I

14. The combination with a conveyor having a discharge terminal, of a sample selecting mechanism in the path of discharge of the conveyor, said mechanism including a rofalling material.

15. A sampling means comprising a traveling conveyor having a delivery te'rminal, an elongated hollow sampling selecting element adjacent the 'deliveryterminal'of the conveyor and inclined across the path of discharge of the material therefrom, the longitudinal axis of said sample selecting element extending in substantially the direction of the travel of the conve yor ,'saidsample selecting means havinga receiving orifice therein, and means for rotating the'sample selecting element about itslongitudinal axis to intermittently turn the receiving orifice toward the path of discharge of material from the conveyor. j

16. Apparatus for selecting a sample from a predetermined point in the width of a ing orifice therein adjacent the delivery terminal of the conveyor-and in 'the'p'ath of discharge of material therefrom, the longitudinal axis of said sample selecting element extending substantially in the direction of travel of said conveyor, said selecting element havinga discharge passage therein extending longitudinally thereof, and means for rotating the sample selecting element. 19. A sample selecting device comprising a hollow elongated body rotatable aboutits longitudinal axis and having a receiving ori fice therein, and a discharge passage at one end thereof, means for rotating said body, and means for moving the body back and forth'transversely ofits longitudinal axis.-

20. A sampleselecting device for divided solid; material comprising a rotatable substantiallyytub ular exposed sampling body projecting into the material to be sampled and "having an opening through the wall thereof for receiving material and having its,

longitudinal axis inclined with respect to the horizontal and vertical, said body having a discharge outlet at its lower end, means sup,- porting the tubular body, and means for rotating it about its longitudinal axis.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand. 'THORLEIF THORSTEN.

traveling stream of material comprising an m elongated rotatable sample selectingyelement projecting into'the stream with its longitudinal axis in a direction substantially normal to the face of the stream,'sa1d element having a receiving orifice therein, and having a passageway extending therethrough through which material entering the orifice may travel axially of the element,'said element having a discharge orifice therein at the end of said passageway, and meansfor rotating the element about itsaxisforlintermittently presenting the receiving orifice to thefiow of material;

17, Means for selecting a sample'from a I predeterminedpoint in the width of a falla ing stream of material comprising an elongated sample selecting element projecting into the stream with lts longltudinal axis in a direction substantially normal to the face of the stream, but'being inclined from a horizontal plane, said element having a receiving orifice therein and having a closed passageway extending therethrough longitudinally thereof through which material entering the receiving orifice may travel axially of the element, said axial travel of the material occurring through the inclination of the sample selectingelement from ahorizontal plane, said element-having adlscnarge orifice therein at the end of said passageway.

' 18. A sampling means including or having a' delivery terminal and an elongated. sample selecting element rotatable about its lon gitudinal axis, having a IBCBIV' a convey- 

